Interior's First Big Smoke Event Drifts Toward Fairbanks

The Starry Fire near Anderson has pushed smoke into the central Interior in what forecasters are calling the season's first significant wildfire smoke event — and it's now drifting toward Fairbanks.

Air quality has already turned poor in Anderson and Nenana, and Fairbanks sits along the smoke's path. The Fairbanks North Star Borough Air Quality Program is urging residents not to wait for monitors to flash red before reacting: "If the monitors are reading good air quality but the air is hazy and you can smell smoke," the guidance says, limit prolonged or strenuous time outside. Most at risk are people with respiratory conditions, outdoor workers, and families with young children or elders.

Two tools can help residents stay ahead of it: UAF's UAFSMOKE project, which forecasts smoke movement 72 hours out at smoke.alaska.edu, and the AirNow Fire and Smoke Map at fire.airnow.gov, which tracks real-time particle pollution.

Anderson, meanwhile, remains under a GO evacuation order, with shelter available at Tri-Valley School in Healy.